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User blog:Luxionmk2/King of Poison
So I just recently responded to a comment in the Battlewasp Striker to prove that the wiki's numbers and a user's findings against a Mammoth were correct. In doing so, I also played out some battles with various poison DoT to confirm my findings. I already knew that how Poison and Fire DoT worked, and how some critters' susceptibility to Poison damage was applied twice, but now I confirmed it through gameplay. How Poison Damage-Over-Time (DOT) Works Some attacks cause the effect, and have a listed duration and chance. Chance is obviously the percent chance that the effect will be applied in the first place. Duration is how long it will last. The game also displays a "DOT" damage, like 60->20. These values are actually just the averages. The actual DOT damage is based off the initial damage from the attack. After an attack deals damage, the first 'tick' of damage is 100% of the damage inflicted. The remaining ticks of damage is determined from this first tick of damage and the duration. For example, an attack may list an attack as doing "20-40" damage. If the duration of the DOT was "3", the game would display the DOT as "30->10". "30" is the average of the attack. "3" rounds would mean the ticks would get weaker by an equal amount, in this case, 10 less damage per round. The first tick of damage would be "30", equal to the original damage inflicted. The next round will be "20", and the final tick will be "10". Of course, if the attack actually inflicted a critical hit and scored a whopping "72" damage for example, the DOT damage would tick down as follows: 72 -> 48 -> 24. If you include the original damage, the total damage in this case would be 216. Duration Duration plays a major role in an attack's total damage. Two ticks of damage is an additional 150% damage, on top of the original damage. Three ticks is 200%. * 2-rounds = 100% + 50% = 150% * 3-rounds = 100% + 67% + 33% = 200% * 4-rounds = 100% + 75% + 50% + 25% = 250% * 5-rounds = 100% + 80% + 60% + 40% + 20% = 300% added Of course, the disadvantage of waiting on DOTs to kill their victim is that the target is still 100% effective at counterattacking. Poison Weakness As mentioned earlier, in the case of critters, like Mammoths, they suffer an additional 25% damage to fire and poison. Strangely, in this case, this additional 25% is applied to the first tick of damage as well, and each subsequent tick of damage is based on this first tick. So if an attack was going to do 40 damage to a normal target, a Mammoth would instead take 50 damage. While the normal target would take 40 damage for the first tick of DOT damage, the Mammoth in this case would take 62 damage! Comparing Unit's Attacks Instead of comparing EVERY unit with a Poison DOT attack, I'll just view the major contenders that are available to players, and compare their Rank 6 damage totals. ---- Hitman While there are other units that cause poison, such as the Hunter and most Artillery units, the Hitman stands out because the Poison is strong enough to matter early on. Poisoned Blade: Poison : Rank 6: 60-90, Average: 75 damage, Duration: 4 rounds : Total Average Damage: 75 + 75 + 56 + 37 + 19 = 262 It's quite respectable damage, and since the Hitman has an additional ability slot and attack options, the Hitman is more than a 1-trick pony. ---- Chem Trooper The Chem Trooper is perhaps the first dedicated "poison" unit produced out of the Barracks. The Chemical Sweep attack can strike up to 3 targets with no loss of efficiency. Chemical Sweep : Rank 6: 67-112, Average: 90 damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 90 + 90 + 60 + 30 = 270 The damage is very respectable for this unit, especially when it's applied to multiple targets at once and potentially tripling the overall damage. Unfortunately the Chem Trooper needs to be deployed in the front row and is limited to the targets in front of it, and without armor or defense, this unit won't likely last long enough to perform another attack. ---- Bio Grenadier As a higher-level unit trained out of the Barracks, one would expect this unit to be better than the Chem Trooper. Chemical Grenade : Rank 6: 51-69, Average: 60 damage, Duration: 4 rounds : Total Average Damage: 60 + 60 + 45 + 30 + 15 = 210 Unfortunately the damage output is lower. The lower cooldown might factor into increased damage output measured over a number of rounds, but this is a single target attack and the splash damage is too minimal. The Bio Grenadier does have the advantage of Indirect line of fire and range 2. ---- Light Chemical Tank The Light Chem Tank has two attacks which both do the same damage, but target different units. In the case of the Chemical Burst attack, the damage does drop off the further the target is from the Light Chem Tank, but I'm going to ignore that and look at the raw numbers. Chemical Sweep : Rank 6: 84-126, Average: 105 damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 105 + 105 + 70 + 35 = 315 Good damage, multiplied by multiple targets. However, the Light Chem Tank needs to be deployed to the front lines to be the most effective, but it has the luxury of armor to keep it there. ---- Heavy Chemical Tank The Heavy Chem Tank has two attacks. The first covers a large portion of the map, but the damage and subsequent DOT drops off significantly at distance. The second attack allows the Heavy Chem Tank to focus on specific targets, effectively allowing it to "assassinate" key targets in a way. This second attack does not lose efficiency at a distance, but does have a minimum range of 2, meaning that it cannot target those in the row directly in front of it. Heavy Spray Turret : Rank 6: 84-126, Average: 105 damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 105 + 105 + 70 + 35 = 315 Canister Launchers : Rank 6: 72-108, Average: 90 damage, Duration: 4 rounds : Total Average Damage: 90 + 90 + 67 + 45 + 23 = 315 Surprisingly, the second attack comes out to be the same average total damage as its first attack. The lower base damage is bolstered by its longer duration. While the overall damage is the same as the Light Chemical Tank, this is the single target damage. It's difficult to compare the two because the Heavier version practically blankets the entire field, but the reduced efficiency at distant targets factor into the OVERALL damage. If it is a target-rich field, the Heavy Chem Tank shines. If it's not, the Canister attack gives the HCT the option to focus its fire on key targets. ---- Zoey's Trebuchet This unit takes a long while to promote, and while players strive to use its Rank 6 attack, its starting Poison attack is nothing to scoff at. Splatter : Rank 6: 102-138, Average: 120 damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 120 + 120 + 80 + 40 = 360 While the splash damage is decent, it shouldn't be factored into the total damage and just be treated as icing on the cake. The 360 average is very good, especially since the Trebuchet can target its victim from just about any range. ---- Tamed Adult Sandworm When the original Tamed Sandworm first came out as a limited time offer, its poisonous Spit attack was considered powerful. Then Z2 made it a permanent trainable unit at the Animal Trainer and made the Tamed Adult Sandworm the limited availability unit, and rightfully so. Spit : Rank 6: 148-181, Average: 165 damage, Duration: 4 rounds : Total Average Damage: 165 + 165 + 124 + 83 + 41 = 578 The overall damage is insane. Even against Tanks with their 25% reduced fire/poison damage to armor, this attack can still melt armor. Just watch unarmored units die to a single Spit attack. The Adult Sandworm also has an assortment of other attacks while waiting for its Spit attack to come off cooldown. ---- Battlewasp Striker So Z2 recently released this unit as a limited time purchase (Labor Day Weekend 2013). Its damage stats were considered low, and because of this, I ignored this unit and skipped purchasing it. It wasn't until recent discussion lead me to examine this unit and its poison damage further. Splatter : Rank 6: 102-138, Average: 120 damage, Duration: 5 rounds : Total Average Damage: 120 + 120 + 96 + 72 + 48 + 24 = 480 Spittle : Rank 6: 25-34, Average: 30 damage, Duration: 2 rounds : Total Average Damage: 30 + 30 + 15 = 75 The 5-round duration is what gives this unit "bite". I thought it might take the crown as the "King of Poison", but unfortunately the Tamed Adult Sandworm exceeds the Striker, and by far. Unfortunately, this Battlewasp Striker is flawed in many other ways that make it not worth the buy, despite its respectable damage. The Splatter attack has a lengthy cooldown, and while its Spittle attack has zero cooldown and can be used every turn, the damage is just too low. I also speculate that affecting the same unit with poison "resets" the DOT, which effectively reduces the "overall" damage of the attack.* You have to let the poison DOT work its course to get the most out of it, but that has its negatives... * Stronger DoTs will "replace" weaker DoTs. In this case, since it is the same attack, it effectively "resets" the DoT. The 5-round duration is a long time. As stated earlier, to get the most out of a poison DOT, the DOT has to last all 5 rounds. Cutting it short by killing the unit reduces the overall damage, but hey, the poisoned unit is no longer attacking you. The Battlewasp doesn't have another major damaging attack, so it's up to another unit to support the Battlewasp. If the Striker isn't killing its targets and waiting for 5 turns, that's 5 turns for the enemy to attack back and kill the Striker. Lastly, for the premium cost of , the Tamed Adult Sandworm costs the same. This unit is definitely a trophy unit or for those who lack Adult Sandworms. ---- Salamander While not a poison DOT causing unit, the Salamander is under consideration due to its high base damage. The critical chance against Soldiers is just gravy. Gauntlets : Rank 6: 166-225, Average: 196 damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 196 + 98 + 66 + 33 = 393 It definitely outshines many other poison DOT units, and has alternative attack options to make this unit very versatile. The Explosive damage type actually helps the Gauntlets do more potential damage to armored units, like Tanks. ---- Elemental Trooper Some consider the Elemental Trooper a combination of the Salamander and Cryo Trooper, so I'll look at its numbers as well. Fire Pistol: Burning Shots : Rank 6: 70-94 (x2), Average: 82 (x2) damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 164 + 41 + 27 + 14 = 245 While the damage is low, the x2 of this attack gives it consideration. Unfortunately, the fire DOT is based off the strongest damage of the x2, not the combined total of the two initial damage values. At least this unit has other attack options to make it worth the price tag. * tested, though values do not come out exact... ---- Blood Ninja The red Blood Ninja was a limited time offer, and I was surprised to see that its Katana attack, Flash Strike, not only applied a fire DOT, but also attacked a large area at (x3) AND applied a fire DOT to those targets as well (albeit reduced damage and reduced DOT chance). However, what makes the Blood Ninja a major contender is the high critical chance, 50% at Rank 6! Actually, I was unaware of its Deadly Star Shuriken attack, which is poison-based. Like the normal shuriken attack, this one fans out and strikes up to 3 targets! Unfortunately, it will only affect "living" units (i.e., Soldiers, Critters and Civilians). Katana: Flash Strike : Rank 6: 91-100 (x3), Average: 96 (x3) damage, Duration: 3 rounds : Total Average Damage: 288 + 48 + 32 + 16 = 384 Shuriken: Deadly Star : Rank 6: 135-165, Average: 150 damage, Duration: 4 rounds : Total Average Damage: 150 + 150 + 113 + 75 + 37 = 525 So ignoring the AOE quality of Flash Strike, the damage from this attack is respectable. 288 average damage is already respectable, and the additional 100 damage (almost) is just gravy. The Fire DOT is based off the highest damage value of the 3 strikes.* However, since we're talking math and evaluating "averages", the 50% chance to crit effectively bumps the 288 to 432! The Fire DOT damage alone potentially adds up to another 144 damage, or 576 total average damage. Sadly this number drops considerably against most armored targets, and this attack has a lengthy prep time and cooldown. Now let's examine Deadly Star. It does an average of 525 overall damage, putting it behind the Adult Tamed Sandworm. If the 50% critical is taken into consideration, then this number climbs to 787! Note that this number is just an average across crit/non-crit attacks - if the Blood Ninja crits, the actual total damage can reach 1155! This is just against a single target as well... * tested, though values do not come out exact... Summary In summary, the king of Poison DOT is the Tamed Adult Sandworm. The runner-up is debatable, but I would say the Blood Ninja is a top contender. The Blood Ninja's Deadly Star outpaces the Sandworm's attack, but its limitation to "living" targets who are within range knocks the Ninja down a couple of notches. The Salamander is more consistent, despite not being poison-based, but both Chem Tanks are great for clearing entire army formations. Most every unit worth considering are premium units. Surprise surprise... not. Category:Blog posts